Live for Death
by JoeDanger
Summary: House Burke of the North has stood by the side of the Starks since before the first Targaryens. Watch their story unfold in the War of the Five Kings and Beyond.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This is my first attempt at a full fledged A Song of Ice and Fire story and the plot revolves around the Burke family, a Northern house, beginning before the War of the Five Kings. I'm going to tell you guys right now, this isn't going to turn into one of those "fix it" fics where the addition of a few characters changes the outcome of everything. Some people are still going to die and some events that happened in the book are still going to happen.**

 **I'll be taking things from both the Show and the Books but for the most part it'll follow the latter more closely. Times I might use the show is when something happens offscreen in the books/isn't mentioned at all or when I just prefer the show story line to the books in some cases.**

 **Just so you can follow along, these are the members of the house and their birth years.**

 **Finnick Burke: 262 AC; Father and Lord of House Burke**

 **Lyarra Burke nee Glover: 263 AC; Mother and Lady of House Burke**

 **Torrhen Burke: 280 AC; Heir of House Burke and twin brother to Iris**

 **Iris Burke: 280 AC; Only daughter and twin sister to Torrhen**

 **Markus Burke: 283 AC; Second Son**

 **Garrith Burke 290 AC; Third Son**

 **Lord Finnick also has two younger brothers, Raymond, a member of the Night's Watch, born 265 AC and Geralt, who has spent the last 7 years adventuring through Essos, born 270 AC**

 **The first chapter is going to be a little all over the place with a large time jump in the middle of it but they won't all be like that.**

 **/\**

 **\/**

 **294 AC, Burke Hall, Markus POV**

As I approach father's study, I can't help but to wonder why he called for me. Am I in trouble? Did he find out I was stealing lemon cakes from the kitchen? Or maybe this is about how I was slacking off on my chores and forcing the smith's son to do them for me? Maybe I'm not being punished, maybe Jamesen has been telling him how well my training has been going and he's asking he here to congratulate me?

The latter is not very likely. I cannot recall a single instance in my entire life where father actually acknowledged my skills in anything. He is always dotting on little Garrith and proudly smiles on at the twins but never me. I am simply the forgotten middle child, the spare.

As I finally reach the door I hesitantly knock on it. I heard my father's "come in" through the door and then open it, nodding at both the guards keeping watch outside.

"You wished to see me father?" I questioned as I enter the room. Father is looking down at a stack of papers on his desk, holding one in his hands.

"I did," he simply confirms, "take a seat if you will, Markus." as I begin to walk over he reminds me, "close the door." Which I do before sitting down and looking at him expectantly. "I received a raven today," he begins again, "from Winterfell, it is from Eddard Stark, do you know what it says?"

"I expect it has something to do with me considering I am the one you are having this conversation with?" I answered hesitantly, which makes him chuckle.

"Indeed, Markus," he smiled slightly waving the paper around, "he expressed interest in fostering you." Well that's a surprise, I didn't even know the Warden of the North knew who I was. "I just wrote to him, accepting his offer, before calling for you." I'm going to be fostered at Winterfell? Father is sending me away? I must have done something wrong. Why would he be sending me away if I didn't?

"When shall I be leaving?" is all I respond with, unable to say any more.

"You have two days to prepare and say your goodbyes." Wow...such little time. "And by the way, Jamesen shall be coming with you to continue your archery training, he's been singing your praises."

"Very well," is all I say, getting up, "I should go and start to pack." he simply nods as I start to leave.

"Oh and Markus," he says as almost an afterthought, I look at him again, "I was a ward at Winterfell growing up as well. It's an honor, you should remember that." he then looked back down at the papers on his desk, which I took as a signal to leave.

/\

\/

 **One Week later, Winterfell Courtyard**

As I arrive at Winterfell I don't know what to expect. I do not know whether there will be a feast when I arrive, or whether there will even be a welcome party.

Soldiers are watching us with mild interest as we ride by them but I'm trying not to look at them. I simply stare straight forward.

When we finally arrive at the gates of Winterfell, the guards open them for us and we entered the courtyard. There are men going about their regular business, training and things like that. Clearly a welcome party was too much to expect.

The horses slow to a halt and we get off and look around us. I see Jamesen standing right beside me, he is an older man, in his forties maybe fifties. He was looking over my shoulder at something but I didn't know what.

"Lord Stark," he said with a nod. Lord Stark? I quickly turned around to see a somber man with brown hair and grey eyes coming towards us.

"It's been a long time," he replied to him with a small smile. He then looked at me, "you must be Markus then?"

"Yes Lord Stark," I make sure to sound confident and look him in the eyes when I respond to him, just like father always told me. He seemed impressed.

"Well alright then," he started, "the boys are out practicing their archery right now, I'm sure you'd like to join them if you are anything like your father. I'm sorry for the lack of preparations for your arrival, we weren't expecting you for at least another three days."

"Nothing to apologise for, Lord Stark." is all I said before making my way in the direction he told me.

When I found my way to the practice range I was met with the sight of three boys. The eldest, probably a boy of six and ten, was shooting at one of the targets while the other two, both my age, were watching on. I simply stood in the background for a little while, waiting to make my presence known.

Suddenly the boy shooting hit a bullseye and the two boys watching started clapping, seemingly really impressed. The eldest soaked it all in, adding in a few mock bows. I felt it was a good time to announce my presence so I said, "you need to keep your shoulders more level."

All three boys looked at me, and the one who I was trying to correct seemed offended. "Is that so?" he started off, rather mockingly, "no offense but I don't think I'll be listening to advice from you."

"Oh and why's that?" I countered.

"Because I'm the best archer in Winterfell for one. And you're a child." was his response, he seemed shocked that someone was actually talking back to him.

"Aren't we all children?" I rhetorically asked with a smirk, "and you aren't the best archer in Winterfell anymore." I added.

"If I'm doing it wrong then tell me how I hit it dead center?" he then asked cockily.

"Are you kidding?" I laughed, "that target is 5 yards away, I think my little brother could hit it dead center. It's not about the results it's about the technique."

"Well if it's so easy you do it," the boy then threw the bow my way, which I caught with one hand. The younger two boys were still silent and seemed to be curious. So I nocked an arrow, took a look at the target, pulled the string back, took a look at the boys, and released.

The arrow not only hit the bullseye, but went straight through the other boy's arrow. Leaving the three of them speechless. "Allow me to introduce myself," I started again, "I'm Markus Burke."

/\

\/

 **297 AC- Markus' Quarters, Winterfell**

I woke up to a hangover as bad as I've ever had. I couldn't even begin to hear myself think over the constant banging. What on earth happened last night? *bang bang bang* "Get up you lazy piece of shit!"

At that moment I realized that the banging wasn't my head, it was someone banging on the door of my room. It took all my will to yell out a firm "It's open" but to whomever was outside my door it probably sounded more along the lines of "is apen"

Nonetheless they seemed to understand my meaning because I could hear my door swing open. Although I was still in no state to open my eyes much less greet whoever just came into my room.

"Well you look like a sight for sore eyes now don't you." I could practically feel the smug smirk on his face but I was far too tired and hungover to say anything.

"Even on my worst days I practically shine in comparison to you Jamesen," I reply with my face still in my pillow.

"Be that as it may, I'm not exactly your competition in that field am I?" he says with a laugh, walking over to the bed and giving my leg a light shove. "Now you've had your beauty sleep, the sun is nearly above now and it's time to show your face."

"Ser Rodrik noticed my absence in the tillyard this morning I'm sure." I assume with a sigh, that'll be a fun conversation.

"You're in luck, in that regard m'lord," replied Jamesen, "you had no lessons today, Lord Stark left Winterfell at dawn to behead a deserter and the boys with him. Lord Robb suggested that they should let you pass on this one."

"I'll drink to that," I said with a slight smile, making my first move to attempt to get out of bed, head still pounding from the massive hangover.

"I don't think you'll be drinking to anything any time soon m'lord," wittily replied Jamesen with that same shit eating smirk.

"Did I make that much of a fool of myself?" I attempted to arch an eyebrow with my eyes not fully adjusted to the light.

Jamesen still looked amused, "Hullen was hardly pleased with the mess you left in the stables."

"Hullen is never pleased with anything," I dismissed with a dramatic wave of the hand, "All the man does is grunt and complain."

"You do give him quite a lot ot complain about…" he begins diplomatically.

"Yeah I'm not the best rider in Westeros, so what? I'm an archer, I don't need to ride." I reply, starting to get heated.

"Not the best?" Jamesen replies aghast, "I think we'd be hard pressed to find someone in Winterfell who is a worse rider than you!"

"Oh Others take you, Jamesen!" I fume, "Now get out of here while I dress!" He decides not to add in yet another smart comment and proceeds to laugh his way out of the room.

/\

\/

Now that I knew that there was nothing pressing for me to go to, I decided to take my time waking up and getting ready for the day. At least the rest of it. I took a bath, gave myself a shave, got dressed and headed out to the main hall to grab something to eat.

When I arrived in the hall it was mostly empty except for Lady Sansa and her Septa. The former saw me come in and gave me a courteous nod to which I gave her one back.

Lady Sansa and I got along okay. We certainly weren't as close as I was with her other siblings, and there were times that I got rather annoyed with her for how she treated Jon and Arya, but she was perfectly polite with me, if not a little distant. Of course, there's also the fact that I've been hopelessly in love with her since we've met, but that's beyond the point.

I still remember our first true conversation. It was two days after I first arrived in Winterfell. A trader made their way too Winterfell from the south and they had ingredients to make some treats, originally they were supposed to be for my arrival but I got here early, one of the things they made were lemon cakes, and as it turned out Lady Sansa loved lemon cakes more than life itself. However her mother specifically told her that she was only allowed to have three of them, to make sure there was enough for everyone.

I remember how sad she was and how she pleaded with her mother for ages before I finally told her that she could have my share. I told her I didn't particularly like them so it was no harm. Of course in reality lemon cakes were my favorite delicacy as well, but the smile on her face was well worth parting ways with them.

"Good day my lord." I am torn away from my thoughts by a voice and rather comically look up from my plate to see Lady Sansa made her way over to me, giggling at my expense. "I was wondering why exactly you didn't go out with father and the others today, I thought perhaps you were unwell?" Was it just blind hope on my part or did she actually seem at least slightly concerned about my good health?

"Nothing to fret about, Lady Sansa," I start, "The others simply decided to let me get some extra sleep." I sneaked a glance at the Septa and saying she seemed less than impressed would be an understatement. Safe to say she knew exactly why I didn't go out to the beheading this morning. Seven hells this is exactly the kind of conversation I was trying to avoid. "Apologies for having to cut this short ladies, but I was just coming in to grab a quick bite before heading out. Lady Sansa you wouldn't happen to know where your sister is would you?"

Sansa gave me a frown before saying that Arya was in the yard watching the guards train, so I thanked her before heading that way. What was that frown about? Was she upset I would rather spend time with Arya than her? Maybe she was just frowning because of Arya? Yeah that's probably it, I'm just overthinking this...right?

The wheels are turning in my head my entire walk to the courtyard before I see Arya and smile and walk over to her.

"I was told a fair maiden was around here, distracting all the guards during their training, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" I ask with as straight a face I can manage, coming up behind her and breaking her concentration.

"Shut up," she says as she rolls her eyes at me, "and hello Markus."

"Good morning Arya," I reply with a smile as I mess up her hair with one of my hands, causing her to laugh.

"It's not morning for one thing!" she says laughing, after she calms down some she looks at me amused and says "Theon says you got shitfaced last night."

"Is that so?" I ask to which she nods, "now what is it that I always tell you about what Theon says?"

"It's usually a load a shite."

"Yes it is!" and we both start laughing again, "and don't swear."

"You guys swear all the time, and you never answered, is it true?"

"Well yeah, we are older," I reply, "and yes." and we both start laughing again.

"Well you missed quite the show this morning." she said with a smirk.

"Go on…?" I implore her

"Well, Bran was practicing archery in front of father….and I put some of our secret lessons to good use." she finishes with a smile.

Smiling, I ask, "You showed up your brother?"

"Yep!" she says satisfied, "And it was a perfect shot!"

"Well you had a very good teacher," I laugh, "We Burkes are known as the best sharpshooters in the North for a reason."

Arya is about to response when the two of us are interrupted by one of the household guards saying that Lord Stark and his company are arriving at the both give each other a look silently vowing to finish this conversation later and go to greet them.

 **A/N Well there is chapter one. I'm just going to float this out there to see what reception is like, it's been sitting on my computer for a few months.**

 **Personally, the dialog seems a little awkward at times but I don't really know how to improve it. If you see any grammar mistakes or something like that just message me**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here is the second chapter, this one is also in Markus' POV simply because he is where the action is right now. My plan is to have POV chapters from all the Burke family members alternating eventually.**

 **In case you didn't understand the timing of things last chapter, the second half of it was the beginning of Game of Thrones with the Starks going to execute the night watch deserter and finding the direwolves and right before Ned finds out about the King coming North.**

 **This chapter will is the time between then and the kings visit, which will be the focus of next chapter.**

/\

\/

 **Winterfell Courtyard, Markus POV**

There was always something I felt oddly comforting about the chaos of the tillyard. The overwhelming sounds of Jon and Robb's grunts as they dueled each other, Ser Rodrik barking out orders and corrections of their stances and tactics, the ever constant banging of the wooden practice swords against one another, the cheers and heckles from Theon and the other onlookers, interested in seeing whether the heir of Winterfell would be able to best his bastard brother.

Whereas with archery, one is supposed to drown out distractions, it almost felt as though swordplay fed off the energy surrounding it. Though I'd never admit it, I easily prefer the latter. Burkes are supposed to be archers, the first name day present I ever got was a custom made quiver. It's in my blood. The Burke Family was rewarded their lands for beating King Jon Stark in an archery contest as legend goes. And while I am every bit the master archer that is expected out of me, I will always have a soft spot for swordplay, part of me even thinks I'm better at it, and some around Winterfell agree. Ser Rodrik has even said I'm the most promising sword he's ever trained.

Drawing my attention back to the two dueling brothers, or half brothers I suppose, it appears at a glance that Robb has an advantage. He is putting pressure on Jon, backing him into a corner with a barrage of attacks. However a closer look reveals differently, Jon is parrying each attack effortlessly, and is willingly backing into the corner with no resistance, his face calm and calculating. He has a plan, that much is clear.

"Watch this," I lean to my right and whisper to Theon, to which he glances at me as if posing a question. Before I get a chance to respond Jon makes his move. Avoiding a swing from Robb, Jon gets down to a knee and ducks underneath the attack, spinning out of the way making his way to the back of Robb and trapping him in the same doom that he was attempting to lead Jon to.

With Robb's back to the fence it was not long before Rodrik called the fight and declared Jon the winner. Shaking his head, he reprimanded Robb for falling into the trap before dismissing us for the day.

As the two of them walk over to us jesting with each other I notice something in the shadow. It was Jon's direwolf, Ghost, even in all the noise surrounding the duel the wolf was completely silent.

Wondering what I was looking at, Jon turned around before seeing Ghost and calling him over. "Those things are unnerving," I say still looking right at it.

"Scared of a little puppy, Burke?" Theon jested. Causing both Jon and Robb to laugh.

"I'm not scared," I replied with a roll of the eyes, "I surely can't be the only one that finds them a little odd?"

"Odd how?" Jon replies solemnly, though to be fair he did most things solemnly.

"It can't be coincidence that all the wolves have the personalities of their masters," I start "Ghost is as quiet as you, Lady is as prim and proper as Sansa, Nymeria is just as much a rebel as Arya…" I finish with a pause like I want to say more.

The next one to talk was Robb, "What else would it be, if not coincidence? Magic?" he replies with a laugh, "Markus, magic disappeared from Westeros centuries ago."

"So did direwolves." I end the conversation on that ominous note.

/\

\/

"But why must I wear a dress?" Arya moaned, dramatically, for seemingly the thousandth time since learning of the King's trip to Winterfell. Usually I admired her persistence but truth be told it was beginning to get on my nerve a little bit at the moment.

The whole point of coming outside with Jon and her tonight was to relax and not worry about the impending visit of the King, now only a few days away. "Because little one," Jon answers with a smile, "you are representing House Stark and must dress accordingly."

"Well I don't see why I can't represent House Stark in breeches," Arya replied hotly.

"A lady in breeches?" I start mockingly, "now that won't do will it, what will all those good southern folk think of us godless heathens?" That gets a laugh out of Arya and a smile from Jon.

"If we are lucky, they'll be so horrified of us uncultured barbarians that they instantly turn around" Jon exclaimed causing all three of us to start laughing.

Once the three of us settle down some I reply "sadly I do not think I inherited any of my father's luck" before taking another sip of the ale I've been nursing.

Jon takes note of this and points towards it and starts, "Lord Stark made it clear he didn't want you drinking with the Royal Party here..." he trails off towards the end, more as if asking a question than simply stating the fact.

"Well then it's a good thing I have at least two more nights of freedom left," I reply with a smile, raising my drink, "besides I hardly think they'd mind, the king is the most infamous drunk in the land, rivaled only by the queen's brother. It would be rather hypocritical of them to be offended by my indulging myself, no?"

"Royalty is nothing if not hypocritical," Jon replied dryly, before looking up at the stars, leaving the three of us to sit in comfortable silence until Arya grew bored.

"Sansa is being even more stupid than usual," she starts as I mentally prepare myself for one of her signature rants about her sister, "All her and Jeyne have talked about is the prince. 'I hear his hair is as smooth as silk' 'I hear he is a better fighter than his father' 'I hear he is the most gallant prince to ever walk Westeros', they make me puke," she ends with an amusing sound effect as if she were puking, getting a laugh out of us. Encouraged by Jon and I's chuckles, she goes on "I swear Sansa is already in love with the prince and she has never even met him!"

And just like that, Jon goes from being amused to serious in a moment, Arya is still droning on about Sansa but neither of us are paying much attention. He steals a glance at me to gauge my reaction and I just smile and shrug.

Truth be told I gave up any hope of marrying Sansa a long time ago. The fact is that no matter what I do or what I say, I will always just be her father's foster to her, no different in her eyes than Theon.

After a few more minutes, Arya was getting tired so Jon decided to take her to bed, leaving me to my thoughts. I got up and walked around the keep for a while before coming across Barra, a fairly attractive redheaded women a few years older than I who worked in the kitchens.

Partially due to the alcohol and partially due to Arya's words about Sansa, although I'd never admit the latter out loud, I decided tonight would be as good a night as ever to try my luck with her.

Putting on the most charming smile I could manage in my state, I approached her and spoke "Hello beautiful, I don't suppose you would mind accompanying me this evening? Some fine company like yourself would do much to ease my boredom."

Chuckling at my boldness, she replied with a smile of her own, "you are a hard man to say no to, Markus. Any ideas?"

With a smirk I suggestively replied, "I'm sure we can come up with something, why don't we discuss our options in my room?"

/\

\/

 **Markus' Quarters, The Next Morning**

"You have got to be kidding me, boy."

I didn't have to open my eyes to know who it was that came in my room and said that. "Get out Jamesen" I sleepily dismiss.

He would not leave however, "as much as it saddens me to say so m'lord, I'm afraid I can't. Now get dressed boy, I doubt you'll want the first impression the king has of you to be hungover, bare as the day you were born."

Mayhaps blame it on the hangover, but I confess it took me an embarrassing amount of time to grasp what it was he was actually saying. Once I finally did I finally opened my eyes to be greeted with a sight of red hair and I remembered what I did the night before. However instead of thinking too hard about that, I thought it best to focus my attention on the fact that the king was here? "Did you just say the King, Jamesen?"

"Aye, now get your lazy arse out of bed," he replied with a grunt.

"Were they not two days out on last estimate?" I asked confused.

"It appears the King finally grew impatient with their pace," Jamesen replied, "and speaking of patience, you are getting dangerously close to wearing mine thin." he finished angrily.

"Stop, stop, you'll wake up Barra," I start quietly before he interrupts me.

"Oh we'll talk about her in a while don't you worry about that one." he says shaking his head, "but for now just get dressed and meet everyone in the courtyard, the royal company will be there within the hour."

As Jamesen leaves the room, he closes the door and leaves me alone with my thoughts. It appears I'm going to meet the most powerful people on this side of the world with a killer hangover...great.

 **A/N: And that's that.**

 **Next chapter is the King's visit to Winterfell.**

 **Let me know what you guys think of Markus so far. I have a pretty good idea on how I want him to come off and progress and I'm curious what you guys make of him.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Hello everyone, we have finally arrived at the King's visit. This is also the final Markus chapter before I start to mix in some other POVs.**

 **Just a heads up, in this chapter and those that follow, I won't simply be going through every event from the books in a different POV, I don't see too much of a point in doing that and I feel like too many OC stories focus too much on just rewriting every single chapter in the book from their character's perspective.**

 **Enjoy, and review if you like.**

 **/\**

 **\/**

 **Winterfell Archery Range, Mid-day**

As I walk in to the archery range, it is unsurprisingly empty, with the household guards having their hands full with the King's visit and Ser Rodrik cancelling lessons for the day for the recruits.

Other than perhaps Theon, I was the only one in Winterfell who spent more time then required practicing my bowmanship. I did so because it was expected of me, Theon simply because he liked the concept of being better than people at something.

While I didn't have the same love for archery as I did swordplay, I still admired it in it's own way. The solitude of it, the repetition, sometimes I could lose myself in it and spend hours mindlessly shooting at targets. It was an unspoken rule not to interrupt me while I was in such a state. However it appeared the new arrivals did not yet hear of it.

"I think he's dead," I heard some unknown voice jest over my shoulder after my fourth or fifth shot. Mildly annoyed, I glanced to where I thought the man stood to see if I recognized him from the King's entry earlier, and sure enough I did.

Standing a few yards behind me and approaching was none other than Ser Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard, brother to the Queen. Dressed in his golden armor that matched his flowing golden hair and a devious smirk that would make Greyjoy look like a blushing maiden in comparison. I put down my bow and turned, facing him completely and raise an eyebrow at him, beckoning him to speak.

Lannister simply widens his smirk before finally speaking, "You are Markus, correct?", without waiting for an answer he presses on, "Finnick Burke's son? 'Finnick the Fated'" he mocks lightly, "It's quite the name."

"I hardly think you are one to talk about monikers, Kingslayer." I reply evenly. He laughs but otherwise ignores my comment.

"You do know where he got his name I assume?" He asks me rhetorically with a hint of a smirk. What is this fool getting at?

"Of course," I start tensely before starting again, "I'm sure you know it much more vividly than me, Ser. You were in King's Landing at the time were you not?" It appears I stuck a nerve with the knight because all amusement disappeared from his face, leaving only a look of dread strongly masked by false indifference.

"Indeed I was there," the Lannister stated as his unfocused eyes drifted off into the distance before becoming hard, "I was in the throne room when Brandon Stark strangled himself as his father burnt, I was in the throne room when Aerys ordered all of the men who followed him to the Red Keep burnt, I was in the throne room when every one of your fathers friends were murdered, and where was your father? Laying in a sickbed at Riverrun." Ser Jaime paused for a moment, still looking off into the distance, before regaining his composure and starting again, "If not for a bad case of flu your father would be dead with the rest of them, Finnick the Fated indeed."

Ser Jaime was silent again, and not appearing to be waiting for a reply but I felt the need to grant him one anyways. "You know," I start lightly, "father hates the name more than anything else in this world. He says it is a constant reminder of his greatest failure. I suppose he has that in common with you."

"No he does not," he says venomously, "the only thing I regret about killing the Mad King is that I didn't do it sooner."

/\

\/

After our initial conversation and some of the frost between us thawed, Ser Jaime and I got along quite well. I spared with him for a few matches in which he beat me handily every single time. However after the fact he made a comment about how I wasn't "completely shit" and truth be told I think that can be considered high praise from a man of the Kingsguard. After the two of us finished in the tillyard, we still had time to spare before the arrival feast so Jaime decided to introduce me to his little brother. We found Lord Tyrion in his room drinking some wine, he afforded to share and well….

"AND here I am, running as fast as I can through this keep trying to get away, half naked and hungover as a sailor the morning after payday," as I'm telling the story I can barely contain myself whereas the brothers are making no effort to, Tyrion is laughing so hard he is choking on his wine and Jaime has his head down laughing into the table, "and who do I run into? Greatjon fucking Umber! The Lord of the Castle himself!" I start to laugh just thinking about what happened next.

"Now I'm not sure if you two have ever met Lord Umber, but let me tell you the man earned his name. The man could crush my skull like it was one of your southern fruit cakes with two fingers" I say expressively with exaggerated hand motions, "and he is simply staring me down right now looking at me like I'm a fucking idiot. Like 'what in the name of the gods is this scrawny little kid doing running around Last Hearth in nothing but his underclothes?' I swear to the old gods and the new the man must of thought I was crazy" I decide to take another jug of wine before continuing to give the Lannisters a chance to catch their breath.

"So here we are, and the man is about to ask me what exactly I am doing and before he even opens his mouth I already have some bullshit story on my tongue but there is no use because before he even asks the steward finally catches up to me, and he is livid. In one hand he has my dress shirt, and the other a dagger that he looks ready to stab me with and before a word is spoken by anyone you could just see The Greatjon connecting the dots in his head." Ser Jaime looks ready to fall out of his chair at this point and Tyrion is not far behind him.

"And at that point Lord Umber lets out the loudest laugh I've ever heard in my life and then gives me a pat on the back," I finish with a smirk and a laugh, "here I was thinking I was going to get my ass handed to me by a half giant but the man is congratulating me and giving me a stack of coins," I start laughing not just because reminiscing the story but the look on their faces, "apparently there was a bet going around Last Hearth for months about who would be the man to take the girl's maidenhead and here I come and do it my first night there."

"Unbelievable" Ser Jaime mumbles with a laugh under his breath as his brother silently agrees with him, shaking his head at me.

After a moment Lord Tyrion smirks at me and asks "Was the girl worth the trouble?" Causing to to slyly smile back before answering.

"Let's just say that was not the last time I had her during my stay," I raise my glass as I finish.

"What were you doing at the Last Hearth anyways?" one of the brothers asks me, to be honest I'm not quite sure which one, only thing I am certain of at this very moment is that this southern wine is fantastic.

"On my way to visit my Uncle Raymond at the Wall."

"Ah yes the Night's Watch… your uncle is a part of that noble brotherhood?" Ser Jaime asks mockingly.

I stop for a moment before responding, "watch your tone Ser, really your two callings are more similar than different. You simply have better weather and more comfortable beds."

Before The Kingslayer gets a chance to retort his brother says "don't worry boy, the similarities are the root of his bitterness."

Before I can consider Tyrion's words Ser Jaime jumps in "That's not true at all dear brother, The Kingsguard is a great honor and I am grateful to be apart of such a historic order. Do you have any interest in becoming a member, Markus? You certainly have the potential, and I would certainly enjoy your company in favor of one of my current brothers."

"I second that," starts Tyrion, "are you any good with a lance? You might be able to make a true name for yourself."

As soon as he asks I can't help but burst out with laughter, "sadly my Lord I truly doubt I'll make a name for myself as a rider in the tilts. On my good days I can just barely keep myself in the saddle." I finish with a smile and a sip of my drink.

Before our conversation gets a chance to continue I hear the door slam open and quickly turn behind me to see the culprit. And before my eyes, none other than the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms is gracefully marching into the room with a sharp look in her eyes, she spies her brothers and instantly she begins to spit venom. "There you two idiots are. Have you any idea the time? The feast is about to start! Wait a minute are you drunk?" she asks the final question as she stops next to us and takes a closer look, seeing the goblets of wine each of us is nursing.

Ser Jaime smiles goofily before replying, "of course not dear sister, we've had but a few cups while getting to know our new friend," he finishes pointing at me. Queen Cersei quickly glances at me and does an uninterested one over.

"The Burke boy?" she asks no one in particular while arching an eyebrow at me. Unsure of how I should respond to the Queen I simply nod. "Why don't you join the feast, I have matters to attend to with my brothers." as she finishes she turns her glare back to her brothers causing them both to drunkenly laugh. Deciding it's in my best interest not to be in the room when she goes off on them I retreat out of there as fast as possible before heading to the dinning hall.

/\

\/

When I enter the feast is already in full swing though the Starks and Royal family have yet to make their entrance yet. I make to sit next to Theon and as I do he turns and looks at me with his signature grin. "There you are! Where in seven hells have you been all day? I got something to tell you."

"None of your fucking business where I've been." I reply with a grunt, causing his smirk to widen even more than usual.

"You're drunk! Let me guess you're drowning your sorrows after hearing the news about Sansa?"

He really must be trying to piss me off, I guess with Jon sitting with the hedge knights he must turn his attention to someone else, "actually I haven't you squid prick. I hope she lives a long and happy life with the blond dickhead." I finish with a snarl before pouring myself some ale. "What was it you wanted to tell me?" I change the subject before I end up punching him.

"I overheard Lord Stark and the Maester talking after the King arrived," Theon paused for dramatic effect before continuing, "it appears he's summoning your father to Winterfell. Any guesses what that's about?"

Just when I thought my life couldn't get any worse, my father coming to Winterfell. "I'm sure they are just trying to figure out what to do with my sorry ass once Lord Stark becomes hand."

"You have any ideas what you are going to do?" Theon asks somewhat seriously.

It's quite the question really, truth be told I've never thought of what happens next. Other than the pipe dream of Sansa finally realizing I'm everything she's ever wanted and the two of us running away together. "I haven't the slightest idea. Maybe go east and live as a sellsword like my Uncle Geralt, explore the ruins of Old Valyria, visit the wonders of the world, I might even go and join the Night's Watch like Jon." as I finish my last point the two of us look at each other before laughing.

"Markus Burke going celibate, that'll be the day!" Theon yells still laughing.

After we quiet down a little bit I start again, "you know something, today Jaime Lannister asked me if I had an interest in being in the kingsguard."

This surprised Theon a lot, "did he offer to train you? Because that's hardly an offer you can refuse. Think of all those southern girls swooning over your white cloak."

This gets a chuckle out of me before I respond, "fair enough but I'm still not sure about the offer. Call me a romantic sap but something doesn't sit well with me about having to watch the girl I've loved for years get her happily ever after with someone else."

Before Theon gets the chance to respond the guests of honor finally arrive to the sounds of cheers from all in the crowd. I laugh and cheer along with the rest of them as I watch Robb arm and arm with the obviously enchanted princess and Arya's obvious annoyance as she walks with prince Tommen however as I watch Lady Sansa with her betrothed, the crown prince, I can't help but grow quiet before reaching for my drink. I'm going to get right and royally pissed tonight.

/\

\/

 **A/N Alright here it is. I've had the first scene on my computer for a while now but the rest I just wrote up this weekend. I'm sure there are mistakes so just message me if you find any and I'll fix them up.**

 **I tried to do a little bit with some background on some "non Markus" Burke family members this chapter, mainly his father obviously, because as I've said before this story won't JUST be Markus POV he just so happens to be where the action is at the moment.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Alright so here I am, back again with a chapter of Live for Death. The POV is from Finnick Burke, as alluded to in the previous chapter.**

 **If you are wondering why I'm writing this, just saw the first episode of the new season and it gave me the willpower to write this out, mainly so I can complain about it in the author's note. So spoilers for those who haven't seen it, the rest of this is just me complaining about the episode so you can skip to the story.**

 **I really didn't like the season premiere… In fact I am legitimately having a hard time trying to think of anything positive to say about it. Even the Arya Jon reunion, a moment I quite literally have been waiting for since I was in college, was insanely underwhelming. He didn't even notice her the first time he saw her! AND SHE SEEMED TO CARE MORE ABOUT GENDRY THEN HIM! And when they finally did get their real reunion, it felt so fucking forced. "You use to be taller"? Really? That's the best the writers to this fucking show could give us?**

 **Oh and that fucking scene with Dany and Sam...is Dany legit a sociopath? "I wanted to thank you for helping my friend, oh by the way I murdered your father and brother." And how exactly are we supposed to believe that no news of the battle got north yet? How many episodes ago did that happen? And Sam is here finding out half his family was murdered and he cries for like 10 seconds then all of the sudden in the next scene he's perfectly fine again?**

 **But by far easily the most stupid thing that happened that episode, that thing with the Umber boy. So let's get this straight….Last Hearth is the closest castle in the seven kingdoms to the wall…..the Night King just got through the wall and is heading south….and you decide the best course of action is to go to Last Hearth? No one in that entire hall of Northern lords thought for a moment and said "hey wait a minute….what if the army of the dead gets there first?" And why didn't they just bring everyone south to begin with once they were summoned to Winterfell? "Ah, just got a raven from Lady Sansa at Winterfell, looks like the White Walkers have breached the Wall and are marching right towards us… well I'll go south to Winterfell, I'll come back for you guys later...cool?"**

 **Oh and don't even get me started on that god awful cgi during that seen with the dragons...hahahaha yikes. Overall the entire episode felt like someone writing bad fanfiction….and this is coming from someone who writes bad fanfiction. But the difference is I have no formal training in storytelling and I just do this for fun...THEY ARE GETTING PAID.**

 **Alright I'm done bitching...length wise this chapter is gonna be a bit shorter than my last couple I think, but there's some pretty important stuff content wise.**

 **/\**

 **\/**

 **Finnick Burke, Winterfell Courtyard.**

As I approach the keep in Winterfell I can't help but note this is easily the busiest state I've ever seen Winterfell in. It appears that the King in all his glory and wisdom decided it was a good idea to bring half his court north with him. If the rumors are true he'll be bringing a few more south than those who headed north as well.

"It's good to see you my lord," Jamesen spoke to me as I appoached and got off my horse.

I nod my greetings to him before crisply asking, "Where is Lord Stark?"

Expecting nothing less Jamesen answered, "his study my lord," he then pointed to a man at his side, "Jory will take you to him. A word of caution if I may my lord, Lord Stark has been rather tense lately with all that has happened."

"Yes, yes what happened to his son, truly tragic," I reply coolly while looking around, "speaking of sons where is Markus." I notice Jamesen stiffen at my words but don't comment on it.

"The boys have their lessons with Maester Luwin at the moment my lord."

"His lack of presence reflects poorly on himself and on the entire family."

"A simple oversight on his part, I am sure." Jamesen replies lightly, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but here having this conversation.

"One he will not have again, I'll make sure of that," I reply before pausing, "but that is a problem for later, now bring me to Lord Stark."

/\

\/

The guardsman opened the door to the study and announced my arrival before stepping aside and making himself scarce, leaving me alone in the room with Lord Eddard.

Lord Stark seemed mildly amused by the exchange, "Jory has known you for all of ten seconds and he's already scared of you."

"I seem to have that effect on people," I stoically reply before finishing, "you should get some guards that scare less easily."

"Jory is a good lad," he replied with a light chuckle, "loyal." After a moment he waved me over, "have a seat Finnick." I do as he bid as he asks, "would you like a drink?" What I would like is an explanation but I'm sure he knows that already.

"It can't hurt I suppose." He pours me a glass of wine before looking at me.

"You use to smile more when we were kids." Oh it's going to be one of those conversations? I truly dread smalltalk.

"I had more of a reason to smile." I reply before adding, "I suppose both of us did."

Ned nods along before replying, "True enough, but even back then I was always the brooding one. You use to laugh more than any boy I've ever met." he paused and the two of us sat in silence. "How is Lyarra? Has she had any good news?"

I shake my head no as I reply, "the sickness is still making steady progress. The Maester thinks she only has a few more good years left in her." How he can consider whatever she has left 'good years' I have no idea, when I left for Winterfell she could barely see out of her right eye and she can no longer walk without some kind of aid.

"That's truly sad to hear," replied Eddard somberly, "what of the twins?"

"Oh enough of this farce Lord Stark," I cut him off hotly. "I feel like this conversation should be much more focused on you."

"Finnick you have to understand," he starts gravely, "the King of the Seven Kingdoms is not a man you say no to."

"And neither am I," I glare at him, "and you certainly aren't a man to go back on his word."

"No contract was ever officially agreed upon…"

"Oh stop it, please just stop it," I cut him off yet again, "don't pretend these are your words, this is your wife's doing. My son was never good enough for her precious little girl. That's the only reason there was never an official contract, we had an understanding Eddard."

"What would you have me say my Lord?"

"I expected that you brought me here to grovel and beg, not to attempt to justify your slight." I reply coldly, "you told me that once they came of age, Markus and Sansa would be wed and given The Moat as their seat, along with the money and resources to rebuild it. And now I come to find out that that never was going to be the case, Lady Catelyn was simply biding her time until a better offer came along."

"I understand your anger Finnick, but what we agreed upon those years ago simply can not happen surely you understand that? However I can offer you something better. Your daughter as Lady of Winterfell."

"It was never about Winterfell," I reply.

"Why do you care so much about that ruin?" Lord Stark asked exhaustedly.

I pause for a moment and calm down before answering softly, "because of your brother." Lord Stark looked confused so I continued, "he would always talk about it. It was one of his big visions for when he became Lord of Winterfell. He wanted to restore Moat Cailin to its former glory, he wanted to give it to you to use as your seat but obviously that never came to be. I suppose part of me wished for his vision to come to fruition, seems the least I could do."

"He...he never told me that." Ned replied stunned.

"I was the only one he ever told...he told me a lot he never told anyone else." I reply sadly before getting to the topic at hand. "How will I know that you won't marry off Robb despite our agreement like you did with Sansa?"

"You have my word as a Stark we shall announce the marriage once I am settled in Kingslanding." he paused for a moment, "which brings us to the other thing we need to discuss. I need you to stay in Winterfell and help Robb when I am in the South. He is only a boy and with everything that has happened with Bran and"

"Say no more." I cut him off lightly, "I'll do anything I can to help him."

/\

\/

 **A/N ANNNND Done. As I said before it's a little shorter than the other chapters but the conversation needed to happen and their wasn't much else for Finnick to do in Winterfell. I thought about having a conversation between him and Markus but then I thought it might serve the story better to him Markus pretty clearly be avoiding him. Actions speak louder than words as they say and I wanted to make there tense relationship known without them simply saying their relationship is tense when talking to each other.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Alright next chapter coming up. This one I'm a little hesitant about because truth be told I don't know quite where this story arc is going just yet but I'm sure I'll figure something out.**

 **If you have any suggestions please let me know and please review.**

 **Oh, and in case you weren't able to guess, Geralt's personality is very loosely based on Geralt from the Witcher. You don't need to know anything about the witcher and it has absolutely nothing to do with the story and their won't be any characters from the witcher or inspired by characters from the witcher other than him but I was just thinking of how to write a mercenary like character and I was replaying witcher 3 at the time so I figured what the fuck, might as well.**

 **/\**

 **\/**

 **Pentos, 298 AC, Geralt Burke POV**

As I entered the tavern I am greeted with the typical sounds of laughter and yelling one might expect in such an establishment. I quickly scanned the room for anyone suspicious before making my way over to a table where a few of the boys were sitting.

Hearing me approach, Marano looked towards me expectantly before asking, "Did you find any work Westerosi?"

I nod as I sit down at the table before starting, "Just like we suspected, with the Dothraki here they're many openings in the city guard. The Magisters are even willing to pay extra to any who speak Dothraki." I suppose I'm lucky Finnick forced me to sit through all those ghastly language lessons on Burke's Hill, I barely know any Dothraki truth me told, but enough to convince a fool bailiff I do and earn a little extra coin.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Jorio asked nervously? Jorio is a green boy in every sense of word, can't be older than four and ten by my guess, I don't think he's even ever had a women, but the kid was a natural with a sword so we took him in and have been showing him the ropes. "There are 100,000 of the savages out there from what I've heard. What if they attack the city?"

"Relax, relax," I start with the rest of us laughing, "It's easy money, boy. The Horde is here for a wedding, they'll be too drunk to care about looting the city, even if they thought about it there's a wall between us. All we got to do is walk around the streets at night and make the rich idiots feel safe, then collect our gold in the morning."

"Yeah kid, stop worrying about the job and start thinking about what you are gonna spend that coin on," Kivan added on, laughing, "speaking of, hey Geralt a couple of the lads are planning on heading to Madam Meshysha's after, you interested?"

"Nah not my kind of style." I reply with a smile.

"Oh right, you got something against whores, what you think you're better than them or something?"

I smirk before cheekily saying, "first rule of business my friends, never pay for something you can get for free." Before laughing along with the others.

"Pardon me," I hear a voice ask from behind in a Westerosi accent, "Do I know you from somewhere? It feels like I do."

I turn to face the man out of curiosity and I can't help but acknowledge something vaguely familiar about him. The stranger was a larger middle aged man with a balding head and a thick beard, if he had to guess the man had the look of a northerner, or mayhaps a valeman. He carried himself unlike a commoner, likely a landed knight or even a minor noble.

"Possibly," I reply casually, unwilling to give my name before knowing exactly who the man before me was, I prompt him, "And who might you be?"

The stranger tensed slightly before responding, "Ser Jorah Mormont." That explains the northern look I suppose, although something still doesn't add up here.

"Is that so?" I ask slowly, looking around to make sure my companions weren't paying attention, "Because I heard Mormont was in Lys."

"I was," he replied with gritted teeth and a sad look in his eyes, "and now I am here." Clearly the man did not want to explain further. "And you still haven't answered the question."

I still wasn't entirely sure I could trust the man, but who would pretend to be an exiled knight from the poorest corner of the seven kingdoms? I'm littlely the only man in this city who has even heard of the man. "We met on Pyke I believe, my lord. The name is Geralt Burke."

He nodded along as if that was his suspicion the entire time, "Brother of Lord Finnick?"

"Regretfully." I answer with a dramatic roll of the eyes.

He looked like he was considering something before he asked me, "did I hear you right before that you were here looking for work?" I simply nod. "Well I have a job that would pay you more than you could possibly imagine, although it would just be for you, not your friends."

My curiosity peaked, I finished my drink before standing and telling Jorah to lead the way, "You might want to say goodbye to your friends before we leave," he said, "this will be a long contract for you." I dismiss his thoughts with a shake of the head before the two of us left the inn. I'd only been riding with this group for at most three moons, they'd hardly cry at my departure, I wouldn't be surprised if some didn't notice.

When I asked where we were going the knight only faintly smiled before replying "A wedding."

/\

\/

 **A/N Again a really short chapter, sorry about that. I'll make it up to you guys though the next chapter will be finished up within a week, it's already half written.**

 **This one was pretty hard for me to write because as I said before I honestly have no idea where this arc is going. I just knew I wanted to have a POV with Dany. Please if anyone has any suggestions let me know. Gerelt likely will not have many chapters for the first few books simply because I really dislike Dany's storyline in GoT and CoK...it's just not that interesting to me.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N I'm back again with another chapter. This one shall be the trouble on the kingsroad chapter, although it won't be going down quite like in the books, I'll explain why at the author's note at the end.**

 **If I was going chronologically by the books timeline this chapter should be Bran's assassin however considering the last few chapters have been on the shorter side and that one likely will be as well I decided to give you guys this one first. Next chapter shall be Finnick at Winterfell and after that you'll be meeting Raymond at the Night's Watch.**

 **I hope you enjoy**

/\

\/

 **Marcus Burke: Kingsroad**

" _...Oh sweet girl of mine, how can I find,_

 _A love half as strong as yours?_

 _One whose eyes of blue, seem to leave me blind,_

 _To the grace of other girls._

" _Oh sweet girl of mine, how can I die,_

 _Never telling what you were to me?_

 _Oh love of my life, this must be goodbye,_

 _To a love that was never to be."_

"Pretty song" I open my eyes and smile softly as I see Arya in front of me looking down at me resting against a tree.

"Thank you my little she-wolf," I reply with a smile before asking her what she was doing.

"Looking for you," she started before blooping down on the ground next to me and laying back against the tree, "I was bored and all Sansa wanted to do is sit in that stupid carriage with the stupid Queen." She stopped for a minute lightly asking, "I thought you were going on the hunt with father and the King?"

"I came down with an untimely case of sickness," I replied dryly with a slight smirk. My ass hurts so much right now I'd do anything to get out of an extra day of riding, even making myself throw up first thing in the morning.

"You know," Arya started in her typical 'I know everything' voice, "if you sang some of your pretty songs to Sansa sometimes, she might actually give you the time of day."

I chuckled softly before rubbing her hair and replying "you sister isn't the kind of girl who I can win over with a few pretty words."

"No, Sansa is EXACTLY the type of girl who can be won over with a few pretty words." Arya replied with a roll of the eyes and the two of us laughed together for seemingly hours in our own little world, talking endlessly about Winterfell and Jon and anything that we took our fancy, sitting by that tree.

After I finished the story of the time Iris hid in my room for nearly 3 days, Arya excitedly said "Let's do something fun."

Pretending to look aghast, I replied "this isn't fun?"

Arya matter-of-factly replied "hanging out with you is always fun, but we aren't DOING anything, we are just talking. Let's DO something!" In a childlike excitement I've come to expect out of her.

"Alright I suppose you've won me over." I reply with a smile, looking up at the sun and closing me eyes. "What do you have in mind?"

"Let's go to the Trident and look for Rhaegar's Rubies!" Arya suggested standing up, suddenly full of energy. Her smile was absolutely contagious and I couldn't help but smile along with her. She looked so happy I didn't have the heart to tell her that even if Rhaegar's rubies did indeed fly into the ford as the story says then it was all but impossible that any would still be around over a decade after the battle.

Instead I simply agreed with "an excellent idea." As soon as the words were out of my mouth Arya asked if Nymeria could come along and I nodded a yes before the two of us headed to the river.

/\

\/

After a short ride to the Trident, Arya and I spent maybe half an hour looking for Rhaegar's rubies. Or at the very least SHE spent half an hour looking for the rubies well I kept her company and pretended to help.

As I silently expected, Arya found no rubies in the tides. Although she didn't seem too discouraged about that. Not that that surprised me, Arya was the kind of person who wasn't necessarily about results.

After growing bored with the search, Arya walked back to the shore and grabbed a stick off the ground with a devious smirk on her face. "I challenge you to a fight to the death!" She shouted at me with a smile and giggles under her breath.

Smirking back at her I grabbed the closest stick to me before turning, "I accept your challenge" I say with a dramatic bow making her laugh. "And who am I fighting on this occasion?"

Laughing, Arya replied, "you are fighting Visenya Targaryen, wielding her Valyrian steel sword Dark Sister!" Waving her 'sword' around in her hand as she ended.

"Well if you are Visenya who would that make me?" I ask.

"You are King Aegon obviously" she replied.

"Why would Aegon be dueling his wife?" I asked with a confused laugh.

"It's a practice duel," she replied as if it were the most undeniable fact in the world and not some story she was making up as she was going along.

Thinking better than to comment on the fact that we were 'fighting to the death' during a practice duel, I rose my 'sword' and waited for Arya to attack.

And attack she did, with haste she swung at me again and again. A determined look in her eyes as I effortlessly blocked every attack with a satisfying *whack* as the two sticks collided with each other. Occasionally I'd send an easily blockable mock swing her way so she wouldn't accuse me of going easy on her, although I made sure never to actually hit her.

After a few minutes, as I was getting ready to 'surrender' I saw two figures come into my field of view walking towards us and wordlessly beckoned Arya to stop. Standing there in front of us was none other than Sansa and her Golden Prince.

"Your sister?" the blond prick asked Sansa for confirmation as if he still did not know Arya despite his month long stay at Winterfell. As Sansa confirmed with a nod, the prince swaggered towards us.

"Now why were you attacking my dear betrothed's sister?" he asked me with a wicked look in his eyes. Behind him I silently took note of Nymeria circling around him, eyeing him watchfully. "I asked you a question." Joffrey said threateningly as he got even closer to me, now almost in my face.

"Nothing to it , my Prince," I replied with gritted teeth, "we were just play fighting is all." It was only then that I noticed the wineskin that Sansa was holding. "You're drunk." I looked at Prince Joffrey accusingly before eyeing Sansa closer and seeing her flushed face. "You both are." The Prince simply smirked at me.

"Sansa come here." I order her in my most commanding voice I can muster, but she stays still as stone.

"That's Lady Sansa to you," the prince says to me glaring, "and she is to be Queen she doesn't need to listen to the second son of a Lord in the middle of a barren wasteland."

Ignoring the prince's words, I push past him and walk right up to Sansa and grab the wineskin from her hands forcibly before telling her to let me smell her breath. Her defiant 'no' is all it took to tell that her breath reeked of alcohol. I just stared at her with disappointment clear on my face before walking away from her.

After taking a few steps away I opened the wineskin and dumped it's contents onto the ground. I made a mental note that less than a fourth of it was still left meaning the two of them drank the rest. "Hey what do you think you are doing?" The prince asked me outraged, to which I didn't answer and simply shook the rest of the wine out of the wineskin. "That is the finest Arbor Gold money could buy!" He continued furiously.

"Was" I causally corrected before throwing the now empty wineskin on the ground at his feet.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!" The prince yelled at me.

Finally having enough I walked to the prince before glaring at him and replying quietly, "who do you think you are? She is barely two and ten and you decide to go and get her drunk? She is your betrothed and deserves to be treated with more respect than that."

"I AM A PRINCE AND I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT!" He shouted at me like the child he was.

Pointing over towards Ruby Ford I calmly replied "did your father never tell you what happened to the last prince who thought he could do whatever he wanted?"

Without waiting for a response from the young prince, I turned around and began making my way back over to Arya who was not even trying to hide her smile at the prince's misfortune. However I quickly noticed that her smile soon turned into a look of horror as she screamed "Markus look out!"

Looking over my shoulder I was greeted by the sight of Prince Joffrey who drew his sword and was now charging at me. As he approached he took a swing at me that would have cut my head clear off had I not been able to dodge out of the way at the last second.

The Prince took two more swings at me but without the element of surprise on his side I was able to dodge them easily. It was abundantly clear that the Crown Prince had no formal training with a sword and he could barely even lift his. After the Prince's third attempt at gutting me I had enough and with all the strength I had, I aimed for his nose and punched him as hard as possible. His nose broke with a satisfying crack and soon he was gushing blood.

The boy dropped his sword and fell to the ground with a whimper, covering his face with his hands. I made note that Arya walked over and grabbed the sword before throwing it into the river. I also looked at Nymeria who looked ready to eat the prince alive as he was on the ground and seemed to be silently begging her master to allow her to.

Nymeria never got her feast though as I brought her and Arya back to the inn as the prince was crying on the ground. I thought about bringing Sansa back as well but I thought better of it and allowed her to stay with her wounded prince as I prepared for the seven hells the Queen was undeniably about to put me through.

/\

\/

 **Later That Night**

"That boy must be punished for brutalizing your son." the Queen argued looking towards her husband. Just as I expected the Prince came to his mother crying, making up some sob story about how *I* was the one who attacked him and how he was simply defending himself. Whether or not the Queen was truly blind enough to believe it didn't matter, someone touched her precious golden prince and they must pay for it.

Looking around the room it was clear to tell not many present truly believed Joffrey's side of the story. Faces ranged from the anger of the Queen to the boredom of the King, and from the amusement of Lord Renly to the almost pitying look of Sir Jamie. However almost no face in the room gave the impression of actually thinking me in the wrong.

"Oh in the name of the Seven women," the King started out furiously, "that BOY's father is one of the most powerful men in the north, I can't very well order his hand cut off."

"He broke your son's nose! You can not let an act like that go unpunished!" the Queen all but yelled at him.

Finally having enough of this farce I speak up, "Was I to let your son stab me through my back, your grace? He came at me with his longsword when I was unarmed with my back turned."

As if my statement finally made him think of something, the King looked at his son before asking, "whatever did happen to your sword?"

The Prince was too ashamed to reply so Arya spoke up from the crowd, "I threw it in the Trident." At this the King looked at the Prince like he was the most worthless excuse for a man he had ever seen, which to be fair was probably the case, and Lord Renly had to be escorted out of the inn because his laughter was getting too out of control.

Getting tired of this mess the King simply sighed and looked at me, "I believe you boy, but you must understand I need to do something?" I simply nodded. "Fifteen lashes for harming a member of the royal family, Payne see to it. And Ned send the boy back North I don't want any more drama when we reach the city." The Queen seemed satisfied with this and we were dismissed.

Before my punishment, Lord Stark found me and told me he was truly sorry for what was happening to me. "It's nothing to be sorry for Lord Stark," I replied, "I did hit him after all, if anything the King is going easy on me by not taking the hand or sending me to The Wall."

"I don't suppose you are going to tell me the real reason the prince and you fought?" It was obvious that it didn't go down the way the prince said it did but I decided not to correct him, wanting to save Sansa from her father when he found out she had been drunk with the prince, instead I simply said that the prince 'is remembering things wrong' whenever questioned by anyone.

"It's not my story to tell Lord Stark" was all I replied with, confirming that there was more to it but not elaborating. Lady Sansa has still been quiet about the whole thing, refusing to refute anything her precious prince had to say. If she wanted to set the record straight with her father that should be on her. Arya on the other hand I swore to secrecy knowing she'd likely blame whatever happened to me on Sansa. "However there is one thing I'd like to say Lord Stark. When you send me back to Winterfell I think it may be a good idea to send the direwolves as well. Nymeria was there when it happened and if I didn't get to the prince first I can't be sure she wouldn't of killed him. Them being here is almost asking for trouble." Lord Stark simply agreed with a very well and said that Nymeria and Lady would go back with me.

Before the two of us could continue our conversation Ilyn Payne came up to us. Looking over to him I simply asked "it's time then?" To which he didn't respond for obvious reasons but safe to say that it was indeed time. "Very well," I said with a sigh before looking back towards Lord Stark and nodding at him and walking off with the King's Justice, mentally preparing myself for the lashes.

/\

\/

 **A/N. Alright that's chapter 6 done. So because Markus is there Nymeria never bites Joffrey and Lady is never killed, the first major change from the books. I figured that the only reason Arya was playing with the butcher's boy in the books was because no one else she knew was there. Let's assume Jon was on the King's Road with them it would of been him who went to the ford with her. And in this story Arya is almost as close to Markus as she is to Jon...almost.**

 **This is hot of the press and I don't have a beta or anything like that so I'm assuming there might be some grammar mistakes or something like that, there usually is. If you find one and want to help out just message me about it. See you guys next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N Alright I'm back, a little longer than expected but lately I've been rewatching The Wire and you can say that has taken up the majority of my free time hahaha. Fantastic show if you've never seen it I would highly recommend.**

 **I know I said this chapter would be focused on Finnick at Winterfell but I decided to do something a little different. I started to write what I had planned for him but after a while I realized...it was just really boring. He doesn't really do anything to impact the story. Bran still gets attacked, Summer still kills the assassin, Catelyn still brings the dagger to King's Landing.**

 **So instead of doing that, I found a way to write in the exposition I wanted to have with Finnick into this chapter with Torrhen, and to be honest I think it works a lot better this way anyways.**

 **This chapter will have a lot of backstory about the history behind House Burke which I hope you all find interesting...I really liked writing it.**

 **Oh and one more thing, when it comes to names I'm probably one of the least creative people I've ever met(I pity my future children) And I've been trying to come up with a good name for the Burke family's castle and right now I am coming up blank in every way. In the first chapter I called it "Burke Hall" as kind of just a filler name until I came up with something but here I am, still clueless as ever as to what to name it so I'll just stick with it for now until I can think of something. If any of you guys have any ideas please just let me know and if I like something one of you says I'll use it and be sure to shout out whoever came up with it.**

/\

\/

 **Torrhen Burke POV- Personal Quarters at Burke Hall**

This is how I spend the majority of my days now, sitting at the desk in my chambers trying to make sense out of my fathers work. The table is littered with letters and maps and plans and treasury reports and I can not even begin to understand what I am to do with any of it.

I always thought I understood what it meant to be Lord. Entertain guests whenever they came to Burke Hall, arrest poachers who hunted in the Wolfswood without proper papers, that kind of thing.

But when it comes to the technical aspects? How much to tax the fishermen at Long Lake? When and where should we log in the Wolfswood? I'm truly clueless. And father just leaves me in charge for an unspecified amount of time while he goes to Winterfell and doesn't tell me anything. Does he really just expect me to figure it out as I go along?

I'm interrupted by a knock on the door, although I suppose 'interrupt' is the wrong word because that implies I was doing something useful with my time to begin with, to which I call out for them to come in. Looking up I see a maid come in with a cautious smile on her face. "Good day, Lord Torrhen" she says as she steps in the room, "I have hot water for your morning bath." Morning already? That's surprising.

"That's perfect, thank you" I say with false grace, "have you already gone to my sister?" I know she likes early baths, she'll be cross to say the least if she has to wait for more water.

The maid's smile fell as I asked and she was clearly trying to find her words carefully before replying "Lady Iris was not in her room m'lord." Sadly that's nothing new ever since...the incident. She likely woke up hours before dawn. "You get much sleep m'lord?" The maid asked timidly, I suppose I must look like I've walked through all seven hells right about now.

"I woke up a mere half hour before you came in here dear," I say with a false smile, "I simply wanted to take a quick look at father's notes." Truth be told I barely slept last night. "Once you set up the bath, bring me something to eat, I'll break my fast in my chambers today."

"Very well, m'lord," the maid replied before getting to work and leaving me to brood. Brood about one very specific paper on this desk, the same one I've been brooding over since I first got it four days ago.

 _Lord Finnick,_

 _We have conducted the initial tests and the results are even greater than you imagined._

 _We believe we have found a large number of rich silver and iron ore deposits. We also believe there is a large quantity of gemstones present deeper in the mountains due to trace evidence._

 _We have encountered no problems with the locals and under the impression that Deepwood Motte has no idea of our excursion._

 _Your Faithful Servant,_

 _Allyn Dekk._

Silver… gemstones…. Deepwood Motte… Allyn Dekk. What on earth is father doing? Sending Allyn Dekk into the mountains for preliminary testing for mining? Even with our houses joined, if the Glovers found out about this there will be war.

It all adds up though, roughly three moon cycles ago Dekk and fifty men were sent on a mission of some kind by father and he wouldn't tell me or anyone else the nature of said mission.

And Dekk? It's no surprise father chose him for this mission. The man was perfect for the job, although that was not necessarily a good thing. Allyn Dekk was not an intimidating man to look at. A man in his late twenties, he was fairly tall standing half a head above most but he was built like a twig. A skinny face with sharp cheekbones and dark eyes. He's skilled with a bow but with a sword in his hands he is useless.

As a whole it doesn't matter though because he is much more likely to stab you in the back with a dagger than in the front with a sword. That's just his personality. He is a sly and devious man who excels in intrigue above all else. It's because of Dekk that we Burkes have the most intricate spy system in the north. Maids and guards from every castle north of the Neck are on his payroll, he even has informants in the most important keeps in the south.

And it was an open secret in the North that if Allyn Dekk wanted you dead no one would ever find the body. There were times I idly wondered just how many decaying bodies lay at the bottom of Long Lake courtesy of Dekk. Just the thought of that made me pity the 'locals' Dekk described in the letter. I'm sure whatever hunters who had the misfortune of wandering upon Dekk in the Wolfswood on his mission were now lying in a shallow unmarked grave.

But for all Dekk lacked in honor he made up for in loyalty tenfold. There is no question in my mind that Dekk would die for father and our family without a second thought, and that's why he was perfect for this mission. If word did somehow get back to the Glovers about us mining in disputed territory Dekk will claim he acted alone and father had no knowledge of his actions. An obvious lie of course but one that's next to impossible to disprove.

Of course that excuse would only last so long. 50 men in the mountains alone can be explained away as the work of a rogue servant, but if father actually decides to mine? There is no telling what the repercussions will be. When father gets back from Winterfell I will need to speak with him on this, but for now there is no use in further dwelling on it.

/\

\/

After I bathed and broke my fast I decided I needed a break from this god forsaken room and headed outside for some air. As refreshing as it would be to take a break there was a few things I had to do today, the first was find an unlucky soul to help me with something.

As I arrived in the courtyard there were several people to choose from for the task at hand but I couldn't decide who to sacrifice. In the end I decided to go with the person I thought Iris would be least likely to kill on sight.

"Paige!" I called down to the men training below and Eden Paige looked back up at me with his soft blue eyes and his mop of dirty blond hair. Eden was a promising young lad just a little older than I who Iris was fairly fond of. He was as close to a friend my sister had that she wasn't related to.

"Yes Lord Torrhen?" he asked with a smile as he approached, a smile I was sure was about to disappear the moment I took him what I needed to do.

"Eden, I need you to find my sister and bring her back to Burke Hall." I told him quickly and just as I suspected the smile was replaced with a look of dread that I was well familiar of seeing when the topic of my sister was brought up ever since the incident.

"But my lord," Paige started stuttering through an excuse, "I have no idea where to find her."

"She'll be somewhere on the edge of Long Lake I imagine," starring off over the lake into the Bolton lands as if planning the death of each and every single person living there. "If not then mayhaps she is going on a hunt in the Wolfswood." But considering the fact she hasn't been on a hunt since what happened my money is on the Lake. Taking note of the fact that Eden was still noticeably tense I tried to reassure him, "Relax Eden, Iris considers you a friend. She won't do anything to you."

He simply looked at me before replying cautiously, "she changed Torrhen."

"I know," I said softly before turning around, "you'll find her." Without waiting for a response I leave Eden to his task before heading to my next stop.

As I entered Maester Reben's room I realized that Garrith was in the middle of a lesson, and decided to sit back and watch.

"House Stark."

"Seat Winterfell." Garrith replied confidently.

"Words?"

"Winter is Coming."

"Sigil?"

"A Grey Direwolf on a field of white"

"Very good young Garrith" the Maester said with a smile, "Now let's do House Stark's vassals." With a smirk I sit back and watch, this is where the fun comes in.

"House Karstark"

"Seat is Karhold"

"Words?"

"I….I don't know" Garrith said unsure of himself.

"Sigil?"

"A white direwolf on a field of grey." It was a complete guess on his part but to be fair it was a logical one. The Blackfyres, likely the only other cadet branch he knows, simply reversed the colors of House Targaryen, so maybe all cadet branches do that?

"Try again Garrith" the Maester said patiently.

"A black direwolf on a field of grey?" At the Maester's look he tried again, "a black direwolf on a field of white?"

"Oh cut him some slack Maester Reben." I finally make my presence known with a laugh before looking to my brother, "it's a white sun on a field of black."

"A sun?!" He replied aghast, "how am I supposed to know that?"

"You memorize it," I said back wittily before messing with his hair and sitting down next to him. "How's he doing Maester?" I asked even though I figured I already knew the answer.

"Certainly room for improvement," he responded dryly, "kind of like you at his age."

"This is stupid!" Garrith cried out, "Why can't I practice archery instead? I know all the important Houses, why do I need to know about the Karstarks and all the other stupid Lords of whatever!"

"All the important Houses?" I asked with a smirk, "well then you must know the Glovers? They are the most important house to know other than the Starks."

Garrith lost all confidence as he looked at me with a blank stare, "the Glovers?"

"The Glovers," Reben agreed with a smile before pointing over to Deepwood Motte. "House Burke's neighbor to the West. It's said that the most important factor in a Burke's rulership is his relationship with the Glovers," well maybe father should be retaking some of these lessons with the Maester I thought dryly to myself.

There was some faint recognition in Garrith's eyes before he asked "Glover is mother's house right?" The Maester and I just smiled and nodded along. "Why are they so important?" Garrith asked curiously. The Maester looked over to me as if silently asking me if I wanted to answer.

"Look at the map brother," I started with a smile. "To the east our border with the Boltons is clearly defined with the shore of Long Lake and the White Knife. To the north our border with the Umbers is defined by Last River. To the south we have Winterfell and the Starks. But to the west? Well to put it simply our border with the Glovers is in a state of constant flux."

"It is said that over the years there has been two dozen wars fought over the disputed territory between Burke Hall and Deepwood Motte." Two dozen wars… thousands dead over trees and wolf pelts. I wonder how many will die over silver and gemstones.

"Why can't they just work out a border?" Garrith asks with the innocence of youth showing through.

"Look at the map," I reply, "There is no natural barriers between us like Long Lake or Last River, there's just trees and hills. There is a bit of an unspoken border that we each stay on our side of the mountains but even that means very little."

"Once Cregan Stark decided he had enough of the infighting between two of his strongest lords and decided once and for all that a border was to be decided on," the Maester started with one of his favorite stories. "He locked Lord Yoren Glover and Lord Ricken Burke in a room together with a map of the Wolfswood and said that they would remain in that room together until they drew a line through the Wolfswood that be the official border. And once the line was drawn to make sure no misunderstandings would be made they would clear cut the entire length of the border throughout the Wolfswood one league in width so that it would be impossible to mistake when the Glovers section of the woods ended and where the Burke's began."

"So what happened?" Garrith asked, now genuinely curious and excited.

"The line was never drawn." the Maester replied with a chuckle. "Even when locked in a room for days on end the two couldn't agree on what a fair border would be."

"Why didn't they just have Lord Cregan decide?" Garrith asked confused.

"Because Cregan Stark's mother was a Glover." I replied with a smile, "and Ricken thought that if Cregan drew the line that would be blatantly biased in favor of his mother's maiden family. Instead he proposed the line would be drawn by the Lord of the Dreadfort. After all the Boltons were the second most powerful family in the North."

"It also didn't hurt that Ricken was happily married to the Bolton Lord's daughter." Maester Reben finished slyly, "however Lord Yoren was against that for some strange reason."

"So Lord Cregan just… gave up?" Garrith asked confused.

"He just gave up." I answered with a nod, "although in fairness to him he was a little busy with the Dance of Dragons going on."

"And to this day no one else has ever attempted to define our border with the Glovers again." the Maester finished the story with a sigh. "Well I think that's enough history for today, young Garrith."

"I can go to the yard now?" he asked excitedly while standing up.

"Not so fast," I stop him with a wave of my hand, "first you have to do House Burke."

Garrith smiled at me before starting. "House Burke, seat Burke Hall, sigil a snow fox flanked by two arrows, words 'Live for Death'" without asking to be dismissed he ran out of the room and to the yard to work on his bowmanship.

After he was gone the Maester looked at me "now what is it you needed Torrhen?"

"Just for you to write a letter to my father." I reply, "Tell him I know of Dekk and we need to speak as soon as possible. And use our fastest bird, this is urgent."

"Right away my lord." Reben replied as I left the room.

/\

\/

 **A/N Alright the chapter is done and I hope you all liked reading it as much as I did writing it.**

 **In case you were wondering exactly where Burke Hall is the map I'm using is the Interactive Game of Thrones map(just google westeros map its the top result) and in my mind Burke Hall is right to the West of Long Lake on the King's Road.**

 **Originally I wanted the Finnick chapter to have the letter from Allyn Dekk to go right to him at Winterfell but I figured this way would work better for the characters plus like I said my other plan for this chapter was just boring to write.**

 **If any of you guys have an idea to what exactly the "incident" with Iris was I'd love to hear your thoughts although I'm sure it's not that hard to guess. I definitely left some pretty big hints throughout the chapter. We'll learn more about it as the story goes along and it's obviously a major part of her character development.**

 **And again, if you have any idea as to what to call "Burke Hall" please let me know because I'm really not loving that name but I can't think of anything better.**

 **Till next time.**


End file.
